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“First Nations have a right to maintain their territoriality,” says Justice Murray Sinclair

January 7, 2016

One of our activist supporters has identified a BBC broadcast that contains important words from Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner, Justice Murray Sinclair on the topic of building a new relationship between the nation state of Canada and First Nations. He was speaking at a public event held at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, on November 24, 2015, and his comments focused at times on unceded territories, such as the islands and waters of Akikodjiwan.

“I think it is about finding accommodation. Making accommodation for each other as we go forward. Indigenous people, Indigenous First Nations have a right to maintain their territoriality to the extent that they haven’t surrendered it and only to the extent that they’re willing to surrender it.”

This is a message that Cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister need to hear—from you. It’s how you can support the October 30 call to action that Algonquin chiefs first issued in August 2015 but that Cabinet ministers have so far been silent on. It’s how you can help this federal government live up to its promise of a new relationship.

Please listen to the full BBC broadcast online if time permits, or savour this short transcript, below. It captures the essence of what Justice Sinclair had to say on questions of Crown sovereignty and the business of nation-to-nation reconciliation.

Justice Murray Sinclair:
“Well, one of the great unaddressed questions in the law in Canada, is on what basis do you justify Crown sovereignty.

“Crown sovereignty is assumed to be valid throughout the country. But in reality Crown sovereignty according to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 doesn’t really take place until aboriginal title is addressed. And most parts of the country have not had that issue addressed properly.

“And so courts … are beginning to recognize that … validity has to be given to those aboriginal and indigenous people who claim that their title to their land has not yet been ceded by them. Even in this area, right here the land that we are sitting on in Ottawa is unceded territory…. There has been no proper treatment for the title of this land in this area. So this … should be considered a teepee, I guess.”

Moderator – Bridget Kendall:
[laughter] “A large lecture hall or a theatre, but actually it’s really a teepee.”
[audience laughter]
to Time point 39:25

Time point 41:10

Justice Murray Sinclair:
“But … it’s not a nation side-by-side discussion; it’s a people side-by-side discussion. Because the word “nation” gets problematic in that way. The issue of separation is not really part of the dialogue. It’s about rights.

“And I would say that when we talk about reconciliation for Indigenous people in this country, it’s about their ability to exercise their own sense of self-determination as they understand it, within the context of the relationship that already exists between them and the country of Canada.

“Canada as a country as a nation is not going to disappear. We can’t make it disappear by will. We can’t make it go away and say you can’t be a country anymore, or you can’t be a country in this part of this territory anymore. So all of that wishful thinking I think is just going to be a dialogue and not only confrontation, but it’ll never resolve anything. I think it is about finding accommodation. Making accommodation for each other as we go forward. Indigenous people, indigenous first nations have a right to maintain their territoriality to the extent that they haven’t surrendered it and only to the extent that they’re willing to surrender it. And at the same time, Canada can’t claim territoriality or just be assuming that they have the right to take over all of the lives of the people within that territory.

“So there are limits on both sides. And the limitation on both sides is that until we come to that accommodation, we can’t talk about this being one nation yet. Now what the nation of Canada … is not yet fully formed. And that is what people need to realize, that we are still forming this country. It stopped forming itself when the treaties started being breached, and when the first Indian Act was passed, which took away the sovereignty of indigenous people, which they had had until that point in time. And from that point forward, it’s been Canada that has interfered with the evolution of this relationship. And I think now we need to go back and get rid of the Indian Act and talk about how do we form a new relationship in keeping with what was intended back at the time of Confederation?”

Time point: 43:43

Moderator – Bridget Kendall:
“…if you would like to carry on the discussion, we always welcome your comments via Twitter and Facebook.”